Waterbeds, which have been known for many years to hospitals, have been used to care for burn victims and patients who spend considerable lengths of time in bed because of the advantages, inter alia, that a person's weight is spread equally over all points of contact with the mattress which tends to eliminate bed sores and other types of ailments caused by pressure upon parts of the human body resulting from the stoppage of blood flow.
The waterbed construction has evolved from the first beginnings requiring four sided and bottom support to the present soft sides and support only for the bottom.
There has always been a need that the waterbed mattress be fitted with a waterproof liner where in the event the water mattress sprang a leak, the liner would contain the water within the constructed frame and prevent water spillage onto the floor.
Because virtually 100% of all waterbed purchasers tend to overfill the water matress, the problem of eventual spillage of water from an overflowing liner has always been present. This problem has been accentuated with the transition from the original waterbed construction with the liner fitted within the wood or metal sided container housing the waterbed mattress to the present soft-sided waterbed construction. In the soft-sided waterbed construction the liner covers the bottom and sides of the concave shaped cavity adapted to receive the water mattress. Thus as it can be seen, in the present soft-sided waterbed construction the potentiality for water spillage from a mattress leak has been greatly enhanced because the volume available to receive the leakage water has been reduced.
This problem has of late become such a primary concern of the waterbed industry that at the Spring 1977 Convention, the primary topic discussed was the insufficiency of present waterbed liners to adequately confront the leakage problem.
It is the solution of this problem to which the present invention is directed.